Eatery flashes flair for French cuisine

Guangzhou-based restaurant Get Holiday, known for its forays into Western cuisine, has joined Good France, a campaign launched by the French government to promote the European nation's cooking and cuisine to the world.

Each March, over 5,000 chefs join the event, which has been held for five years, to share their unique tips for making French cuisine.

Chen Xiaoshan, the owner of Get Holiday, has owned and operated Western restaurants for nine years. In 2010, he opened his first restaurant Cafe 107. At all his restaurants, Chen has been dedicated to integrating Mediterranean and Cantonese culture and cuisine. During this period, his business grew year-on-year.

A French baker talks to a potential customer at his bakery in Guangzhou, Guangdong province. The French bakery has launched a special menu to celebrate the Good France campaign. Liang Xu / Xinhua

One of the modern benefits to his business is the ability to serve all kinds of exotic ingredients. According to Chen, his restaurant serves about 480 fresh French oysters each month.

"The French government adopts strict regulations on oyster farming, and thanks to the opening of an air route and a highly efficient customs clearance system in China, we are able to serve the freshest imported ingredients," he said.

The plane, fully loaded with fresh oysters, leaves France for China every Tuesday and Friday, landing at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport at 6 am the following morning. About six hours later, the oysters are delivered to Chen's restaurant by local wholesalers, ready to be served for dinner.

To further reduce the time and cost it takes to import and export goods, Chinese customs authorities have implemented new measures in recent years. They optimize the customs clearance process, simplify procedures for filing documents and reduce port charges.

Statistics show that in 2018, the overall customs clearance time for China's imports was 56.36 percent lower than the average time for 2017.

"As the customs clearance process for imported ingredients has become more simplified, the transportation costs have reduced accordingly," Chen said.

His restaurant not only attracts locals but quite a few French customers.

Christian St. Gilles, a frequent customer at Chen's restaurant, has become a close friend with the owner.

Gilles works as a fashion designer, but is also a skilled French chef. In 2018, Chen opened his second Western restaurant, Get Holiday, and invited Gilles to be his culinary counselor.

"As the counselor, I developed a range of Mediterranean-style dishes and designed an open terrace and kitchen to make the restaurant a more open and diverse place," Gilles said.

This year, inspired by Gilles, Chen and his restaurant took part in Good France on March 21-24.

According to the rules, all participating restaurants must embody a spirit of protecting the environment and promoting healthy cooking, with 5 percent of sales revenue donated to a local nongovernmental organization engaged in healthcare and environmental protection.

"I give my full support to this initiative and I hope (in the future) the food served in my restaurant can better integrate Chinese and Western culture," Chen said.